Itoje admits he was naive

– Maro Itoje (above) has said it felt like an “invasion of privacy” after he unexpectedly found himself at the centre of the Saracens’ salary cap scandal.

The reigning Premiership and European champions will be relegated from English domestic rugby union’s elite league at the end of the season for repeatedly breaching the £7 million salary cap limit imposed on all 12 clubs in the top flight.

England lock Itoje was placed in an uncomfortable spotlight after the full independent report into Saracens commissioned by Premiership chiefs was leaked.

The report showed Itoje had been paid £1.6 million for a 30% share of his image rights, while an alternative valuation sought by Premier Rugby Limited estimated he was overpaid by £800,000 and that, as a consequence, this amount was deemed to be salary.

“It wasn’t ideal,” Itoje said Thursday. “It felt like an invasion of privacy but some things are out of your control.”

Itoje was adamant he had not knowingly contravened Premiership regulations by entering into business dealings with former Saracens owner and chairman Nigel Wray, who bankrolled the club from the start of rugby union’s professional era.

“When I entered into them (the agreements) they were all – to my knowledge, based on anything I got told – above board,” Itoje said.

“There wasn’t even the slightest thought of it being not allowed by the (Premiership’s) salary cap manager.

“Obviously the situation is very different now. It is very clear that whatever you do, you have to get it checked.”

The salary cap system is currently under review and it has been suggested the Premiership could follow American team sports such as the NFL by publishing details of players’ wages.

Itoje, however, was wary of such a proposal with the 25-yearold British and Irish Lions secondrower saying: “I’m sure it works in a lot of different places but, believe it or not, when it comes to finances I’m quite a private person.

“On an individual level, I wouldn’t want anybody or everybody knowing exactly what I’m earning, but fortunately we’re not public officials.

“Obviously there is a salary cap manager and that’s his job to make sure everything is as it should be.”

Itoje, meanwhile, refused to apportion blame for the spectacular fall from grace suffered by Saracens. – AFP